{"collection":"Anguttara Nikaya","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/suttacentral_an8.43/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/suttacentral_an8.43","id":"suttacentral_an8.43","license":"CC0","rights_basis":"suttacentral_bilara_data_cc0","source":"suttacentral","source_url":"https://suttacentral.net/an8.43/en/sujato","summary":null,"tags":["Anguttara Nikaya","Early Buddhist Texts"],"text":"At one time the Buddha was staying near S\u0101vatth\u012b in the stilt longhouse of Mig\u0101ra\u2019s mother in the Eastern Monastery. Then Vis\u0101kh\u0101, Mig\u0101ra\u2019s mother, went up to the Buddha, bowed, and sat down to one side. The Buddha said to her: \u201cVis\u0101kh\u0101, the observance of the sabbath with its eight factors is very fruitful and beneficial and brilliant and bountiful. And how should it be observed? It\u2019s when a noble disciple reflects: \u2018As long as they live, the perfected ones give up killing living creatures, renouncing the rod and the sword. They are scrupulous and kind, and live full of sympathy for all living beings. I, too, for this day and night will give up killing living creatures, renouncing the rod and the sword. I\u2019ll be scrupulous and kind, and live full of sympathy for all living beings. I will observe the sabbath by doing as the perfected ones do in this respect.\u2019 This is its first factor. \u2026 \u2018As long as they live, the perfected ones give up high and luxurious beds. They sleep in a low place, either a cot or a grass mat. I, too, for this day and night will give up high and luxurious beds. I\u2019ll sleep in a low place, either a cot or a grass mat. I will observe the sabbath by doing as the perfected ones do in this respect.\u2019 This is its eighth factor. The observance of the sabbath with its eight factors in this way is very fruitful and beneficial and brilliant and bountiful. How much so? Suppose you were to rule as sovereign lord over these sixteen great countries\u2014A\u1e45ga, Magadha, K\u0101si, Kosala, Vajji, Malla, Cet\u012b, Vaccha, Kuru, Pa\u00f1c\u0101la, Maccha, S\u016brasena, Assaka, Avanti, Gandh\u0101ra, and Persia\u2014full of the seven treasures. This wouldn\u2019t be worth a sixteenth part of the sabbath with its eight factors. Why is that? Because human kingship is a poor thing compared to the happiness of the gods. Fifty years in the human realm is one day and night for the gods of the four great kings. Thirty such days make up a month. Twelve such months make up a year. The lifespan of the gods of the four great kings is five hundred of these heavenly years. It\u2019s possible that some woman or man who has observed the eight-factored sabbath will\u2014when their body breaks up, after death\u2014be reborn in the company of the gods of the four great kings. This is what I was referring to when I said: \u2018Human kingship is a poor thing compared to the happiness of the gods.\u2019 A hundred years in the human realm is one day and night for the gods of the thirty-three. Thirty such days make up a month. Twelve such months make up a year. The life span of the gods of the thirty-three is a thousand of these heavenly years. It\u2019s possible that some woman or man who has observed the eight-factored sabbath will\u2014when their body breaks up, after death\u2014be reborn in the company of the gods of the thirty-three. This is what I was referring to when I said: \u2018Human kingship is a poor thing compared to the happiness of the gods.\u2019 Two hundred years in the human realm \u2026 Four hundred years in the human realm \u2026 Eight hundred years in the human realm \u2026 Sixteen hundred years in the human realm is one day and night for the gods who control what is created by others. Thirty such days make up a month. Twelve such months make up a year. The lifespan of the gods who control what is created by others is sixteen thousand of these heavenly years. It\u2019s possible that some woman or man who has observed the eight-factored sabbath will\u2014when their body breaks up, after death\u2014be reborn in the company of the gods who control what is created by others. This is what I was referring to when I said: \u2018Human kingship is a poor thing compared to the happiness of the gods.\u2019 You shouldn\u2019t kill living creatures, or steal, or lie, or drink liquor. Be chaste, refraining from sex, and don\u2019t eat at night, the wrong time. Not wearing garlands or applying fragrance, you should sleep on a low bed, <j>or a mat on the ground. This is the eight-factored sabbath, they say, revealed by the Buddha, <j>who has gone to suffering\u2019s end. The moon and sun are both fair to see, radiating as far as they revolve. Those dispellers of darkness, travelers in midair, shine in the firmament, dazzling the quarters. All of the wealth that\u2019s found in this realm\u2014 pearls, gems, fine beryl too, mountain gold or lustrous gold, or the native gold called \u2018coruscant\u2019\u2014 they\u2019re not worth a sixteenth part of the sabbath with its eight factors, as starlight cannot rival the moon. So an ethical woman or man, who has observed the eight-factored sabbath, having made merit whose outcome is happiness, blameless, they go to a heavenly place.\u201d","title":"With Vis\u0101kh\u0101 on the Sabbath","tradition":"Anguttara Nikaya","translated_text":null,"word_count":823}